by Eva Dameron
Daily Lobo
Local slam poet Damien Flores won Poet of the Year for 2007.
Flores, a student, was given the award by the New Mexico Hispano Entertainer's Association.
The award ceremony is Nov. 10 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center.
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He said the award came as a surprise.
"Somebody who's on the entertainer's board got a copy of my book and then, from there, did a little investigation on my work in the community," Flores said. "I do an after-school program at the Cornstalk Institute in the South Valley. It's a nonprofit organization that does experiential learning with high school and middle schoolers. I'm also poet-in-residence at Albuquerque High School. I teach their poetry club and their creative writing class on Wednesdays and Fridays."
He also hosts poetry workshops at schools.
"Those are the qualifications for the award," he said. "It's not only just written work, but for greater good of the community - what have you done, as far as giving back. So, now I'm getting an award, which is pretty cool."
His book, Novena of Mud, published by Destructible Heart Press, contains the poems that got him nominated for Poet of the Year.
A novena is a prayer that stretches out over a number of nights.
"I grew up a big ol' Catholic boy in New Mexico," Flores said. "There were a few of them I used to have to pray with my grandma when I was younger. Dec. 15 to Christmas Eve is Novena de Pasada. It's a nightly prayer that recounts the tale of Mary and Joseph looking for shelter."
Every night in Old Town, where he lived, everyone would attend prayer sessions at different people's houses. Afterward, there would be a feast.
"They have posole. They have tamales. They have these huge feasts, and everyone's welcome to eat with them," he said. "In my book, one of the poems in there got nominated for a Catholic literacy award, even though I'm not really a Catholic anymore."
Flores is also the artistic director of the College National Poetry Slam for Spring 2008. The slam will be held at the SUB April 2-5.
"We're looking at this to be the largest collegiate poetry slam ever," he said. "If all goes well, 45-person teams from all around the country will be competing for the college national championship at UNM. We've had a couple international schools interested - one from Leeds, England, and one from Cuernavaca, Mexico, who want to fly in and compete in the tournament. That would be awesome."
Flores was on the Albuquerque Slam Team in 2006 and performed at the national competition in Austin, Texas. The team placed 25th overall, and Flores placed 25th individually in the competition. He said the judges varied from venue to venue, and his team got a bum rap of judges who gave everyone low scores.
"We went first, and we called a poem that wasn't really ready," Flores said. "They were really shaky on it - they did terribly. I think it was the subject matter more than anything. It was a poem about pornography. It was supposed to be funny, but nobody was laughing. We were so far behind from the first round that we couldn't catch up."
